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ppiritammmnaiaiis 


Plain Papers on the Doctrine of the 


Holy Spirit 


diab ree 
Pua Lae if 
yt AY Hi 


# Plain Papers 
on the Doctrine 


of the Holy Spirit 


BY THE 


Ig 
REV. C. I. SCOFIELD, D. D. 


AuTHor oF “‘ Ricutty Divipinc THE WorpD oF Trutn,”’ ‘ Cor- 
RESPONDENCE SYSTEM OF BiBLE Stupy,” Etc. 


New York CHICAGO ToRONTO 
Fleming H. Revell Company 


Publishers of Evangelical Literature 


Copyright, 1899 
by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 


Contents 


INTRODUCTORY . ‘ ; 


I 
THE Hovy Spirit Is A DIVINE PERSON . ‘ 


II 


THE Hoty Spirit BEFORE AND SINCE PENTE- 
COST e e J e 7 2 


Ill 
THE Hoty Spirit BEFORE AND SINCE PENTE- 


e 
e 
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cost (Continued) . ; x : 
, IV 
THE FILLING WITH THE Hoty Spirit. i 
V 
THE FILLING WITH THE Ho_y Spirir Is INDIS- 
PENSABLE : : 4 ‘ " 


27 


37 


51 


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Introductory 


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Introductory 


We are in the midst of a marked revival of 
interest in the Person and work of the Holy 
Spirit. More books, booklets and tracts upon 
that subject have issued from the press during 
the last eighty years than in all previous time 
since the invention of printing. Indeed, within 
the last twenty years more has been written 
and said upon the doctrine of the Holy Spirit 
than in the preceding eighteen hundred years. 
Doubtless much good has been done. Doubt- 
less in so far as the testimony has been ac- 
cording to Scripture it has been the divine an- 
swer alike to the false mysticism of the day 
—spiritualism, theosophy, Christian science 
(falsely so called)—and to the current denial 
of the supernatural which is enervating mod- 
ern Christianity. 

But along with this good is much evil. 
Much which has been written and said is dis- 
tinctly unbiblical; much, of which so strong a 

9 


10 Introductory 


statement would not be warranted, has the 
grave demerit of interpreting Scripture by ex- 
perience, instead of subjecting experience to 
the test of Scripture. Something is confi- 
dently asserted because the writer has “felt” 
it. Not infrequently the Spirit has been put 
into the place of Christ. Much of this mass 
of testimony is deeply legal in its spirit. Be- 
lievers are set upon various works to the end 
that they may receive the baptism with the 
Spirit. They are directed to pray, to empty 
themselves, to cleanse themselves, to die to 
self and the world. Husbands and wives are 
directed to ‘‘die” to each other. Natural af- 
fection is branded as idolatry. In many ways 
asceticism is inculcated, and made conditional 
if the Spirit is to be received in His fullness. 
Very few of the more recent writings upon 
the Holy Spirit distinguish the dispensational 
aspects of the question, or take account of the 
progressive unfolding of the doctrine of His 
Person and work. In these papers the en- 
deavor will be made to state these vital things 
with clearness and simplicity. At present it 
may suffice to say, that in respect of no other 


Introductory 11 


doctrine of Scripture is an understanding of . 
its progressive revelation more absolutely es- 
sential. The writings referred to add to the 
confusion of mingling together the past, mid- 
dle-past, and present offices and operations of 
the Spirit, the farther discord of presenting the 
personal experiences of the Apostles as the 
pattern of the believer’s experience now. 
The fact that the Apostles began as Jews after 
the flesh, went on to be spiritual Jews, the 
true Israel of God, seeing in Jesus the prom- 
ised Messiah, and then to be, with Christ as 
chief corner-stone, the foundation stones of 
the church, seems utterly forgotten by the 
more part of recent writers upon the Holy 
Spirit. They speak of new Pentecosts with- 
out reflecting that they might with equal ap- 
propriateness speak of new Nativities. It 
should be obvious to the most careless student 
of Scripture that just as the Son of God had 
been acting in and toward the world from the 
first, but at last made a true Advent at the 
Nativity; so the Holy Spirit, who had been 
acting in and toward the world from the first, 
at last made a true Advent at Pentecost. 


12 Introductory 


Furthermore, it is rare indeed to find the 
relationships of the Spirit properly associated 
with His offices. In Scripture these are care- 
fully discriminated. The undeniable result of 
all this is that many earnest children of God 
are in utter confusion of mind upon this pro- 
foundly vital subject; and the peril is that in 
very weariness and discouragement thousands 
will turn from the study of the doctrine of the 
Holy Spirit, as thousands have turned from 
the study of types and prophecies, sadly con- 
vinced that the truth is so hidden away as that 
no one may hope to come to clearness of vi- 
sion of it. 

The present writer is persuaded, on the con- 
trary, that, while many of the operations of 
the Spirit (as His agency in the new birth) are 
beyond human analysis and definition, the 
doctrine of His Person, relationships, and of- 
fices is transparently simple. The purpose, 
then, of these Plain Papers is to set forth that 
doctrine in a plain and Biblical way. That is 
all. The reader of these Papers will not, 
therefore, expect them to constitute an elabo- 
rate treatise; still less to present or defend a 


Introductory 13 


theory. The writer aspires to do no more 
than to set in order things which are in con- 
fusion, and to leave his readers face to face 
with their actual privileges and responsibilities 
in respect of the divine Spirit who came into 
the world on the day of Pentecost for pur- 
poses as definite and simple as those which, 
some thirty-three years before Pentecost, 
brought the divine Son into the world. 


The Parsonage, 
East Northfield, Mass., 
March 1, 1899. 


The Holy Spirit is a Divine Person 


fuss 


J 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A DIVINE PERSON 


THE complete demonstration of this funda- 
mental fact would require the citation of every 
passage in the Scriptures relating in any way 
to the Holy Spirit, since every reference to 
Him implies or asserts both His personality 
and His Deity. It must, therefore, suffice to 
gather under convenient heads, examples of 
such passages. 

First: The Holy Spirit ts a Person, as dis- 
tinguished from an influence, emanation, or 
mantfestation. 

This appears from the following consider- 
ations: (1) The same words, implying per- 
sonality, are used of Him in Scripture which 
are used of other persons. 

The following may suffice as examples of 
this class of passages, and to these the reader 
may add largely. ‘And | will pray the 

17 


18 The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 


Father, and he shall give you another Com- 
forter, that he may abide with you forever. 
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can- 
not receive, because it seeth him not, neither 
knoweth him: but ye know him; for he 
dwelleth with you, and shall bein you. But 
the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom 
the Father will send in my name, he shall 
teach you all things, and bring all things to 
your remembrance, whatsoever | have said 
unto you.” John xiv. 16, 17, 26. ‘‘Never- 
theless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for 
you that I go away: for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I 
depart, I will send him unto you. And when 
he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, 
and of righteousness and of judgment. How- 
beit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truth: for he shall 
not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall 
hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew 
you things to come. He shall glorify me: for 
he shall receive of mine, and shall shew z#¢ unto 
you. All things that the Father hath are mine: 
therefore said J, that he shall take of mine, 


The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 19 


and shall shew 7¢ unto you.’? John xvi. Ti 0; 
13-15. 

(2) Men are said to act toward Him in ways 
which would be impossible or absurd if He 
were not truly a Person. 

Of this class of passages, also, a few ex- 
amples must suffice. ‘‘But they rebelled, and 
vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned 
to be their enemy, and he fought against 
them.” Isa. Ixiii. 10. ‘‘ Wherefore I say unto 
you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be 
forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto 
men.” Matt. xii. 31. ‘And grieve not the 
Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed 
unto the day of redemption.” Eph. iv. 30. 
‘““Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, 
Shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden 
under foot the Son of God, and hath counted 
the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was 
sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done 
despite unto the Spirit of Grace?” Heb. x. 29. 

(3) The Holy Spirit is said to perform ac- 
tions which would be possible only to a per- 
son, 


20 The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 


The following passages sufficiently illustrate 
this: ‘‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh, 
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” 
John iii. 6. ‘But the Comforter which is the 
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my 
name, he shall teach you all things, and bring 
all things to your remembrance whatsoever I 
have said unto you.” John xiv. 26 (see also 
passages quoted above under sub-head [1]). 
‘‘Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, 
and join thyself to this chariot.” Acts Vill. 29. 
‘‘While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit 
said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.” 
Acts x. 19. ‘‘As they ministered to the Lord, 
and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me 
Barnabas and Saul.” Acts xiii. 2. ‘‘And in 
like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirm- 
ity: for we know not how to pray as we 
ought; but the Spirit himself maketh interces- 
sion for us with groanings which cannot be 
uttered.” Rom. viii. 26, R. Vv. ‘‘Now when 
they had gone throughout Phrygia and the 
region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the 
Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after 
they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go 


The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 21 


into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them 
not.” Acts xvi. 6, 7. 

Here the Spirit is represented as the active 
agent in the believer’s re-birth; as teaching, 
reproving, guiding, speaking, receiving, shew- 
ing, as giving active and specific direction to 
the service of saints, and as praying. | It 
would be difficult to say how the idea of 
personality could be more elaborately pre- 
sented. 

Secondly: The Holy Spirtt ts a Divine Per- 
son, in the proper sense, Detty. 

Let it be noted: (1) He is called God. 
‘‘Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 
Whom shall I send, and who will go for us ? 
Then said I, Here am 1, send me. And he 
said, Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, 
but understand not; and see ye indeed, but 
perceive not.” ‘Well spake the Holy Ghost 
by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, Say- 
ing, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye 
shall hear, and shall not understand; and see- 
ing ye shall see, and not perceive.” Isa. vi. 
8, 9, with Acts xxviii. 25, 26. 

The bearing of these two passages is obvi- 


22 The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 


ous. Isaiah says he heard the voice of the 
Lord, Luke that the Holy Ghost spake; the 
completed truth being that God the Holy 
Ghost spake. (See, as another like instance, 
Jer. xxxi. 31-34, with Heb. x. 15.) 

‘But we all, with unveiled face reflecting 
like as mirror the glory of the Lord, are trans- 
formed into the same image from glory to 
glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit 42 
Cor. iii. 18, R. v. ‘‘But Peter said, Ananias, 
why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the 
Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price 
of the land? While it remained, was it not 
thine own? and after it was sold, was it not 
in thine own power? why hast thou con- 
ceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast 
not lied unto men, but unto God.” Acts v. 
3, 4: 

The declaration is explicit: to lie to the 
Holy Ghost is to lie to God. 

(2) The Scriptures constantly ascribe to 
the Holy Spirit the attributes of God, as om- 
nipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and 
also His highest perfection, holiness. Holi- 
ness, indeed, is the emphatic mark of the 


The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 23 


Spirit. And this not as having been made or 
become holy, but as being holy, and Himself 
the producer of holiness. 

«‘Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or 
whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I 
ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I 
make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. 
If | take the wings of the morning, and dwell 
in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there 
shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand 
shall hold me.” Psalm cxxxix. 7-10, etc. 
‘© And the earth was without form, and void; 
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. 
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of 
the waters.” Gen. i. 2. ‘By his Spirit he 
hath garnished the heavens.” Job RXV FE. 
‘But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor 
ear heard, neither have entered into the heart 
of man the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love him. But God hath re- 
vealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the 
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things 
of God. For what man knoweth the things 
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in 
him? even so the things of God knoweth no 


24 The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 


man, but the Spirit of God.” 1 Cor. ii. 9-11. 
‘‘How much more shall the blood of Christ, 
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself 
without spot to God, purge your conscience 
from dead works to serve the living God?” 
Heb. ix. 14. 

(3) He is represented as performing works 
possible only to Deity. This is shown by 
every one of the passages quoted in the last 
preceding paragraph, to which may be added 
the following: 

‘‘The Spirit of God hath made me, and the 
breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” 
Job xxxiii. 4. ‘‘ Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, 
they are created: and thou renewest the face 
of the earth.” Psalm civ. 30. ‘But if the 
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the 
dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ 
from the dead shall also quicken your mortal 
bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” 
Rom. viii. 11. ‘And such were some of you: 
but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but 
ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Cor. vi. 11. 
‘“‘For the prophecy came not in old time by 


The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 25 


the will of man: but holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 
Pet. i. 21. ‘Men and brethren, this scripture 
must needs have been fulfilled, which the 
Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake be- 
fore concerning Judas.” Acts i. 16. ‘‘And 
when they bring you unto the synagogues, 
and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no 
thought how or what thing ye shall answer, 
or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall 
teach you in the same hour what ye ought to 
say.” Luke xii. 11, 12. ‘‘ Take heed there- 
fore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over 
the which the Holy Ghost hath made you 
overseers, to feed the church of God, which 
he hath purchased with his own blood.” 
Acts xx. 28. ‘‘For to one is given by the 
Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the 
word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to 
another faith by the same Spirit; to another 
the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 
to another the working of miracles; to 
another prophecy; to another discerning of 
spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to 
another the interpretation of tongues; but all 


26 The Holy Spirit a Divine Person 


these worketh that one and the selfsame 
Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he 
will.” 1 Cor. xii, 8-11. 

Surely it would be impossible intelligently 
to impute to a mere influence such definite 
personal acts as these; or to suppose one less 
than absolute Deity able to perform them. 

_In conclusion it is enough to say that further 
proofs both of the personality and Deity of the 
Spirit may be found in the facts that it is pos- 
sible to sin against Him; that He is joined on 
terms of perfect equality with the Father and 
the Son in the baptismal formula; and that in 
seven remarkable passages in the second and 
third chapters of the Revelation, we are com- 
manded to ‘‘hear what the Spirit saith unto 
the churches.” There is no biblical reason for 
believing in the Deity and personality of the 
Father or of the Son, which does not equally 
establish that of the Spirit. 


The Holy Spirit Before and Since 


Pentecost 


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II 
THE HOLY SPIRIT BEFORE AND SINCE PENTECOST 


It is obvious to every reader of the Bible 
that the doctrine of the Holy Spirit follows, in 
common with every other doctrine, the law of 
progressive development. In Scripture noth- 
ing is completely told at once. ‘‘First the 
blade, then the ear; after that the full corn in 
the ear,” is ever the divine method of revela- 
tion. If we seek for the natural divisions in 
this progressive unfolding of the truth con- 
cerning the Spirit, we shall find them so 
broadly marked off as to be unmistakable. 
These divisions are: 

1. The Holy Spirit before the Incarnation 
of Christ. 

2. The Holy Spirit in relation to the Person 
and ministry of Christ from the Incarnation to 
Pentecost. 

3. The Holy Spirit from Pentecost to the 
opening of the door to the Gentiles. 

29 


20 Before and Since Pentecost 


4. The Holy Spirit in His present offices 
and relationships as defined in the Epistles. 

5. The Holy Spirit (prophetically) in the 
future kingdom age. 

The purpose of this Paper is briefly to 
sketch the development of the doctrine in the 
first four aspects of its fivefold order, and to 
note the distinctions which may save us from 
confusion of thought. 

First: The Holy Spirit before the Incarna- 
tion. 

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is re- 
vealed, as we have seen in the preceding 
Paper, as a divine Person. As such He is as- 
sociated in the work of creation (Gen. i. 2; 
Jobiaexvis \23) xvi. 3) ex a PS. cre aoe 
etc.); strives with sinful man (Gen. vi. 3); en- 
lightens the spirit of man (Job xxxii. 8; Prov. 
XX. 27); gives skill of hand (Ex. xxxi. 2-5); 
bestows physical strength (Judges xiv. 6); and 
qualifies the servants of God for a various 
ministry (EX. xxviii. 3, Xxxv. 21, 31; Num. 
Xl. 25-29; Judges xi. 29, etc.; 1 Sam. xvi. 17; 
2 Sam. xxiii. 2). To this should be added 
that operation of the Spirit by which the men 


Before and Since Pentecost 31 


of faith in the Old Testament ages were re- 
generated. While this doctrine is not explic- 
itly taught in the Old Testament (except pro- 
phetically), our Lord’s words in John iii. 5, 
and Luke xiii. 28, leave no doubt as to the fact 
itself. Since the new birth is essential to see- 
ing and entering the kingdom of God, and 
since the Old Testament saints are in that 
kingdom, it follows necessarily that they were 
born of the Spirit. But, since that was the 
period of nonage, as Paul explains, (Galatians 
lii.-iv.,) they had not the indwelling Spirit of 
sonship. They were minors, ‘‘under tutors 
and governors.” 

It should be remembered, also, that to the 
Old Testament saint no way was revealed by | 
which he might receive the Holy Spirit. All | 
the offices of the Spirit were reserved within | 
the sovereign will of God. He sent His Spirit - 
upon whosoever He would. That the Spirit — 
came upon an individual did not by any — 
means prove him to bein salvation. Evena 
sincere believer had no assurance that tha 
Spirit might not forsake him; (Psalm li. 11) 
whereas the believer of this dispensation has 


a2 Before and Since Pentecost 


an express promise of the abiding of the 
Spirit. 

Secondly: The Holy Spirit in relation to the 
Person and ministry of Christ from His con- 
ception to Pentecost. 

The Four Gospels present the Spirit in con- 
nection with the person and ministry of 
Christ. Our Lord is conceived by the Holy 
Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, baptized, and 
led by Him. In His power Christ casts out 
demons, and performs His astonishing works. 
Luke i. 15, 35, iii. 21, 22, iv. 1, 18; Matt. xii. 
28. He is pointed out by John as the Bap- 
tizer with the Holy Ghost, and this testimony 
Christ confirms in His last discourse. Matt. 
lii. 11; Acts i. 4, 5. 

Furthermore, our Lord taught His personal 
disciples how they, too, might have the Spirit. 
‘“‘If ye then, being evil, know how to give 
good gifts unto your children; how much 
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy 
Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke xi. 13. 

So familiar are we with this passage that we 
little think with what astonishment our Lord’s 
words must have fallen upon the ears of His 


Before and Since Pentecost gle 


disciples. Doubtless they were acquainted 
with the prophecy of Joel, but that pointed to 
a sovereign act of God wholly without refer- 
€nce to prayer or any other human condition. 
Up to that time, as we have seen, nO means 
had been made known by the use of which : 
any and every man of faith might obtain the 
Spirit. In Old Testament times the Spirit came 
upon some men as God’s service required, but 
these cases were rare, occasional and excep- 
tional. All was purely within the sovereign 
will of God. But now, to the whole body of 
disciples came the astonishing statement that 
any one of them, simply by asking, might re- 
ceive the Spirit! The privilege was too great 
for their faith. Not only is there not the 
smallest evidence that any of those disciples 
asked and obtained the gift of the Spirit, but 
there is the most conclusive evidence that none 
of them did so ask and obtain. 

At the close of His earth-ministry our Lord 
defined the person, relationships and offices of 
the coming Spirit. 

(1) Since they had not prayed the Father 
for the Spirit, He would. ‘I will pray the 


34 Before and Since Pentecost 


Father, and he shall give you another Com- 
forter, that he may abide with you forever.” 
John xiv. 16. ‘‘But when the Comforter is 
come, whom I will send unto you from the 
Father,” etc. ‘‘If I depart I will send him 
unto you.” John xv. 26, xvi. 7. 

(2) The coming One should stand related 
to believers in a threefold way. ‘‘He dwell- 
eth with you, and shall be i you.” John 
xiv. 17. “Behold I send the promise of my 
Father upon you.” John xiv. 17; Luke xxiv. 
49. The coming One should be ‘‘with” © 
men, convicting, converting, regenerating; 
“within” men, as a fountain of living water, 
cleansing, renewing, satisfying; ‘‘upon”’ men, 
bestowing gifts and power for service. He 
should be Comforter, Guide, Teacher, Revealer. 

(3) Himself leaving the body of revealed 
truth incomplete, Christ promised that the 
Spirit of truth should complete it. John xvi. 
13. Then He went to the cross. 

Beginning, on the very day of His resurrec- 
' tion, His new ministry, He fulfilled, for His 
disciples, the promise, ‘‘He shall be z# you.” 
} John xiv. 17, xx. 22. On the evening of 


Before and Since Pentecost 35 


His resurrection, our Lord « breathed on them, 
and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost.” They had not, then, already received 
Him. Nor, let it be observed, did they then 
receive Him by claiming the promise, ‘much 
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy 
Spirit to them that ask him.” Luke xi. 13. 
Christ, shewing His hands and His side, the 
proof that redemption was fully accomplished, 
as ‘‘first-fruits” (Rom. viii. 23) and “seal” 
(Eph. i. 13) of that redemption, imparted the 
indwelling Spirit to the men who believed on 
Him. It was their privilege, as believers, now 
that the blood of atonement had been shed, 
without other condition, to receive the Spirit. 
He was the “earnest of their inheritance.” 
Eph Ay 1a: Absolutely the only condition 
in them was faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
That impartation of the Spirit as indwelling 
the believer simply and only because he was 
a believer, marked the tremendous transition 
from the age of law to the age of Grace. 

But there was yet another relationship of the 
Spirit, the baptism, or the “upon” relation- 
ship, for which these disciples who had re- 


36 Before and Since Pentecost 


ceived the Spirit as indwelling, were com- 
manded to wait. ‘‘ Behold I send the promise 
of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the 
city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
power from on high.” Luke xxiv. 49.  ‘‘ For 
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall 
be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many 
days hence. But ye shall receive power, after 
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye 
shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judzea, and in Samaria, and unto the 
uttermost part of the earth.” Acts i. 5, 8. 

Then He was parted from them; and the 
‘‘tarrying” began. 


The Holy Spirit Before and Since Pente- 
cost (Continued) 


ba awlt 
Me ROT AU 
vay AU : 

Whariat Sh) 


III 


THE HOLY SPIRIT BEFORE AND SINCE PENTECOST 
(Continued) 


Two of the divisions into which the pro- 
gressive unfolding of the doctrine of the Holy 
Spirit falls have been reviewed: the Old Tes- 
tament stage of that doctrine, and the period 
covered by the presence of Christ on earth. 
We now reach: 

Thirdly: The Holy Spirit from Pentecost 
to the Opening of the Kingdom to the Gentiles. 

Until the day of Pentecost, the disciples, 
who had received, by the outbreathing of 
Christ, the indwelling Spirit, waited for His 
coming ‘‘upon” them; and when that day 
was fully come, with the outward manifesta- 
tions of sound and flame, He came. They 
were baptized with the Holy Ghost; and not 
only baptized, but ‘filled with the Holy 
.Ghost.”” Three results of that baptism and 
filling were at once manifest: (1) giff—‘‘ they 

39 * 


40 Before and Since Pentecost 


began to speak with other tongues as the 
Spirit gave them utterance”; (2) power—as 
Peter preached the hearers were ‘‘ pricked in 
their heart,” and ‘‘ there were added unto them 
about three thousand souls”; and (3) unify— 
‘and all that believed were together, and had 
all things common.” 

This outward unity was the result, not 
alone of the fact that they were alike believers 
in one Lord, and committed to one common 
destiny, but was the manifestation of a new 
fact concerning them which had been accom- 
plished for them by the baptism with the 
Spirit ; they had been, by that baptism, vitally 
united to each other, and to the risen Christ. 
Then began to be formed that ‘‘ body” of 
Christ, of which the Lord Jesus, at the right 
hand of the Father is the Head, and all regen- 
erate believers at and since Pentecost, are the 
members. <‘For as the body is one, and hath 
many members, and all the members of that 
one body, being many, are one body; so also 
is Christ. For-by one Spirit are we all bap- 
tized into one body, whether we be Jews or 
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free.” 


Before and Since Pentecost 41 


1 Cor. xii. 12, 13. (See, also, Eph. i. 20-23, 
iv. 3-16.) 

This was that vital union with the risen 
and glorified Christ of which our Lord had. 
spoken (John xy. 1-10), as the union of the 
vine and the branches. The unity, then, 
which at and after Pentecost, was manifested 
outwardly by their being “together,” and hav- 
ing “‘all things common,” was wrought by 
the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Gift, or 
Special enduement for distinctive Service; 
power, or the ministry of that gift in Divine 
energy; and union to the body of Christ, are 
the results of the baptism and filling with the 
Holy Spirit. 

From the day of Pentecost, when Peter used 
the first key and opened the kingdom to the 
Jews, to the memorable day when, in the 
house of Cornelius, he used the second key 
and opened the door to the Gentiles, the im- 
partation of the Spirit to believers (all Jewish) 
was marked by two peculiarities which disap- 
pear entirely in the case of Gentile converts. 
These were (1) that commonly an interval of 
time elapsed between the receiving of Christ 


42 Before and Since Pentecost 


by faith, and the baptism with the Spirit. 


‘/ And (2) that commonly the mediation of the 


disciples, either by prayer or by the laying on 
of hands, was necessary. Instances may be 
found by reference to Acts viii. 12-17, 1X. 17. 
The whole of this period (Acts ii.-ix., inclu- 
sive) is peculiar, transitional and Jewish. 

Fourth: Thke Holy Spirit since the opening 
of the door to the Gentiles, in Hts present re- 
lationships and offices as defined tn the Epts- 
tles. 

With the opening of the kingdom to the 
Gentiles (Acts x.) we reach what may be 
called the normal experience for this dispensa- 
tion. It is very simply stated by Luke in Acts 
x. 44: ‘‘While Peter vet spake these words, 
the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard 
the word.” Peter's own account of it is in Acts 
xi. 15: “And as I began to speak, the Holy 
Ghost fell on them, as on us at the begin- 
ning.” 
| Henceforth, wherever the gospel is believed 
among Gentiles, the Holy Spirit in the mo- 
' ment when they believe, regenerates and in- 
_ dwells them, and baptizes them into the Body 


Before and Since Pentecost 43 


of Christ. To this the Epistles bear constant 
and unvarying testimony. A few examples 
of the Epistolary testimony must suffice. 

As to His indwelling: ‘‘What! know ye 
not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of 
Godri 77k Cor. viii 19: 

It should be remembered that this is said of 
the most carnal and unsanctified body of be- 
lievers mentioned in the New Testament. For 
their low, unspiritual state see 1 Cor. i. 11, 12, 
lil. I-4, v. I, vi. 1. Indeed, the Apostle makes 
this great truth of the indwelling of the Spirit 
a basis for exhorting them to abstain from the 
coarsest sins. They had not attained to the in- 


| 


dwelling by acts of obedience, nor by peculiar : 
saintliness. The indwelling was the result of - 


their position as Gentiles saved by grace. 


‘‘Now if any man have not the Spirit of . 


Christ, he is none of his.” Rom. viii. 9. 


‘“‘For ye have not received the spirit of 


bondage again to fear; but ye have received 
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, 
Father.” Ron. viii. 15. 

‘‘And because ye are sons, God hath sent 


44 Before and Since Pentecost 


forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, 
crying,.Abba, Father.” Gal. iv. 6. 

Briefly, as to the fact of the baptism, note: 

‘‘For, as the body is one, and hath many 
members, and all the members of that one 
body, being many, are one body; so also is 

Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized 
into one body, and were all made to drink of 
one Spirit.” ‘1 Cor.’ Xil. 12,13) R. vi) This also 
was written to the same ‘‘ carnal’’ Corinthians, 
who, so far from having made great progress 
in the divine life, thus ‘‘attaining”’ the ‘‘sec- 
ond blessing,” were ‘‘ babes in Christ,” living 
upon milk, and not meat. 

Note, farther, in that twelfth chapter, the 
emphasis upon the universality of this posi- 
tion ‘‘in Christ” among believers: ‘‘ Every 
man,” verse 11; ‘‘a/J the members,” verse 12; 
‘Call: ‘baptized;’; \ verse 133° ** alZ, made ito 
drink,” verse 13; ‘‘every one,” verse 18; ‘‘ye 
are the body of Christ,” verse 27. 

' In other words, the body of Christ is formed 
of individual believers united to Christ, the 
_ living Head, by the baptism with the Holy 
Spirit; and, in this sense, there are no disjecta 


Before and Since Pentecost 45 


membra, no ‘‘ unattached’ members of Christ. 
The idea is wholly absent from the Epistles, | 
and would never have entered the mind of man _ 
from the reading of the Epistles. The blind- — 
ing, misleading notion that a Gentile may be 
a regenerate believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, | 
and yet be destitute of the indwelling and bap- 
tizing Spirit, is wholly due to the failure to 
observe the progress of doctrine in the New 
Testament concerning the Spirit. 

Doubtless, also, the strange notion that the 
experiences through which the personal dis- 
ciples of our Lord passed from their position 
as mere Jews in the flesh, to their ultimate 
place in the body of Christ, must be followed 
by all subsequent believers, whether Jew or 
Gentile, is in part responsible for the error. 
The startling experience of the household of 
Cornelius should have sufficed to dispel it. 
That experience shook the apostolic church to 
its foundation, and was the determining fact 
in the decision of the Jerusalem council (Acts 
XV. 7-10), which, under God, emancipated 
the Gospel from its Jewish fetters. 

Instead of teaching believers to-day that 


46 Before and Since Pentecost 


they are destitute of the Spirit unless they 
have passed through some experience subse- 
quent to conversion; or that they may obtain 
the Spirit by asking the Father, as in the in- 
terregnum between the baptism and crucifixion 
of Christ; or that many must be with one ac- 
cord in one place, ‘‘on their faces before God”’ 
if they would receive the Spirit; or that they 
cannot receive the Spirit until they are ‘‘en- 
tirely consecrated,” or ‘‘fully yielded”; they 
should be solemnly charged with the respon- 
sibility which rests upon them as those whose 
bodies are already ‘‘temples of the Holy 
Ghost”; as those who are ‘‘ members in par- 
ticular’’ of the sacred body of Christ. They 
should be exhorted: ‘‘Grieve not the Holy 
Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the 
day of redemption.” (Eph. iv. 30); and they 
should be shewn the glorious possibilities of 
blessing latent in those facts. 

No more transforming thought can be re- 
ceived into a believer's mind than that his 
body is already indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and 
that he is now a member of the body of Christ. 

The misleading opinion that it is possible 


Before and Since Pentecost 47 


to be a true believer and yet to remain for a 
time destitute of the Spirit is sometimes justi- 
fied by the case of the ‘‘ disciples’? whom Paul 
found at Ephesus, of whom he asked—not, +¢ 
as in the Authorized Version, ‘‘Have ye re- 
ceived the Holy Ghost since ye believed ?’”— 
but, as in the Revised Version, ‘‘ Received 
ye the Holy Spirit when ye_ believed?” 
Acts xix. 2. As to this case it is sufficient to 
say: aN 

(1) The very form of the apostle’s question 
indicates that, normally, they should have re- 
ceived the Holy Spirit when they believed 
(literally, ‘‘upon believing’’). 

(2) The question developed the true state 
of the case, they were not Christ’s disciples at 
all, but John Baptist’s. This marks them as 
Jews or Jewish proselytes. They were in the 
precise state of John’s disciples before he 
pointed to Jesus, ‘‘the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sins of the world,” as the 
alone object of faith. 

(3) That they had not the Spirit was due, 
not to their ignorance of His advent at Pente- 
cost, but to the fact that their faith was not in 


48 Before and Since Pentecost 


Christ crucified, but only the proper Jewish 
expectation of a coming Messiah. (Verse 4.) 
(4) Thatthey were not Christians previously 
to this interview with Paul, is proved by the 
fact he added Christian baptism to the mere 
preparatory rite of John Baptist. (Verse 5.) 
But, while it is true that every regenerate 
believer is indwelt by the Spirit, and by the 
Spirit baptized into Christ, it is of the very 
deepest moment to note that the Acts and 
| Epistles discriminate between possessing the 
| Spirit, and being filled with the Spirit. An 
example of this discrimination may be seen in 
Ephesians. In Eph. iv. 30 the believer is re- 
minded (as previously in i. 13), that he zs 
sealed with the Spirit; in v. 18, he is com- 
manded to be ‘‘ fi//ed with the Spirit.” Doubt- 
less, many believers are filled with the Spirit 
when, (in the moment of conversion), He re- 
generates, indwells and baptizes them. The 
disciples at Pentecost were both baptized and 
filled with the Spirit. Acts ii. 1-4. After de- 
scribing the physical manifestations attending 
their baptism, the account adds: ‘‘and they 
were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” 


Before and Since Pentecost 49 


That all believers are not ‘filled with the 
Spirit’? when He takes up His abode in them, 
and baptizes them into Christ, is due to the 
fact that they have complied with the condi- 
tion for the receiving of the Spirit, which is 
simply faith in Christ (John vii. 39; Gal. iii. 
2), but have not complied with the condi- 
tions for the filling with the Spirit. These 
will be set forth in the following chapter. 

It should be added here that, while the fill- 
ing with the Spirit is as definite an act of 
divine power as the baptism with the Spirit, 
the filling, unlike the baptism, may be many 
times repeated. The true formula is: ‘‘one 
baptism; many fillings” (W. J. Erdman). 
The sealing is ‘‘unto the day of redemption,” 
and therefore needs not to be repeated. Eph. 


i. 13, 14, iv. 30. ‘The anointing which ye 
have received of him abideth.” 1 John ii. 
27. 


An illustration, both of the distinction be- 
tween the baptism and the filling, and of the 
difference between possessing the Spirit and 
being filled with the Spirit, is found in the 
comparison of Acts ii. 1-4 and Acts iv. 23-31. 


50 Before and Since Pentecost 


Here the same disciples who were both bap- 
tized and filled with the Spirit on the day of 
Pentecost, were again filled with the Spirit. 
Had they lost their seal? Surely not, for 
they were ‘‘sealed unto the day of redemp- 
tion.”’ Eph. iv. 30. Had they become un- 
baptized out of the body of Christ? Surely 
not. They had become afraid of the Sanhedrin: 
—‘‘Lord, behold their threatenings,’—and 
thus were quenching the Spirit, and the 
remedy was re-filling. ‘‘The place was 
shaken where they were assembled together; 
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, 
and they spake the word of God with bold- 
Ness.) 

It should be added that in the Acts and 
Epistles it is not the facts of the indwelling 
and baptism with the Spirit which are ac- 
counted as bestowing blessing in life, and 
power in service, but the state of being filled 
with the Spirit. Not men having the Spirit 
are sought for service, but men fi/Jed with the 
Holy Ghost. 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


re 


Pietra Un 
as 3) Ve 


nal 
an Aa) 
in nt! 
NIMES Mf 
iA 


IV 
THE FILLING WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT 


In the last chapter the writer endeavored to 
show that the Epistles, which (with the Rev- 
elation) are God’s final word to the saints of 
this dispensation, instead of exhorting believ- 
ers to seek the indwelling of the Spirit, or the 
baptism with the Spirit, again and again assert 
that both the indwelling and the baptism are 
the present possession of all who, through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, are regenerate; 
and that exhortations to holiness of life are 
based upon the already existing fact of such 
possession. It was shown, further, that not 
the presence merely of the Spirit as indwelling 
and baptizing secured the fullness of blessing, 
victory, and power, but the state of being 
filled with the Spirit. Eph. v. 18, is a distinct 
command to ‘‘be filled with the Spirit.” The 
purpose of the present paper is to point out 
the simple Biblical conditions of such filling. 

53 


54. The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


These conditions are (1) negative—some things 
must not be, if we are to know this blessing; 
and (2) positive—demanding a definite affirm- 
ative action upon our part. 

1. The negative conditions of the filling 
with the Holy Spirit. 

(1) The first of these negative conditions is 
stated in Ephesians iv. 30, 31. ‘And grieve 
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are 
sealed unto the day of redemption.” The 
word rendered ‘‘grieve” in this passage 
means literally ‘‘to make sorrowful.” Itis a 
touching thought that the Bible never speaks 
of the wrath of the Spirit. The one passage 
in the authorized version (Isaiah 1xiii. 10) in 
which the Spirit is said to be ‘‘ vexed,” is a 
mistranslation which the revised version cor- 
rectly changes to ‘‘ grieved.” It is not strange 
that some have found in this susceptibility of 
the Spirit to be grieved but not angered the 
mother part of the divine love. 

The things which grieve the Spirit are un- 
holy things allowed in the life. Some of these 
are enumerated in verse 31, immediately fol- 
lowing the exhortation not to grieve the 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 5S 


Spirit: ‘‘ Bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and 
clamor, and evil speaking, with all malice.” In 
Galatians v. 17 weare told that ‘‘ the flesh lust- 
eth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the 
flesh;” and the ‘‘ works of the flesh” are enu- 
merated: ‘‘ Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, 
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, va- 
riance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, 
heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, rev- 
elings, and such lithe ;”’ a clause which covers 
every manifestation of the flesh. All these 
grieve the Spirit when allowed in the believer’s 
life. 

Everything here depends upon the assent of 
the will. Temptations to these sins do not 
grieve the Spirit, nor are temptations sins, but 
the moment the will assents to the practice or 
presence of these ‘‘and such like,” the holy 
and sensitive Spirit is grieved. The effect of 
such assent of the will to ‘‘the law of sin 
which is in our members” is to refuse the rule 
of the Spirit in some part of our natures; to 
diminish the sphere of the Spirit’s sway over 
us. Our complex nature is like an empire of 
many provinces, We are spirit, soul, and 


56 The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


body. We may be willing that the Spirit 
shall control our ugly tempers, and yet indulge 
ourselves in settled bitternesses. We may be 
willing that the Spirit shall rule our passions, 
and yet reserve what we are pleased to call 
the freedom of the intellect. 

Before conversion this empire (though we 
were all unconscious of it) was ruled by Satan 
(1 Cor. xii. 2; Eph. ii. 2) through self as 
viceroy. Now Christ is enthroned through 
the Spirit. But the dethroned ruler seeks ever 
the recovery of his dominion in whole, or in 
part; and the assent of the human will to any 
manifestation of the natural heart (Mark. viii. 
20-23) is the reénthronement of self and, in so 
far as self is allowed to act, the dethronement 
of Christ’s vicegerent, the Spirit. It is not 
that He abandons us. Thank God we are 
‘sealed unto the day of redemption,” and 
‘“‘grieving away” the Spirit is an unbiblical 
notion, but a grieved Spirit is not an all-filling 
Spirit. The immediate consequence of the re- 
striction of the sphere of the Spirit’s authority 
is loss of blessing and victory in the inner life, 
and loss of power in the outer life—the life of 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 57 


service. The remedy for this loss, the filling 
of the Spirit, will be pointed out farther on. 
(2) The second negative condition is stated 
in 1 Thess. v. 19, ‘‘Quench not the Spirit.” 
The word (correctly rendered ‘‘quench”’) is 
used primarily of putting out fire; and in a 
secondary sense of resisting any vigorous ef- 
fort. To quench the Spirit, therefore, is to 
resist His fiery energy, His consuming and 
purifying work. We are baptized with the 
Holy Ghost and with fire. He is the “Spirit 
of burning,” and so of purification. He is 
also the Spirit of power. Through Him God 
lays hold upon us as instruments in a world- 
embracing purpose. To quench the Spirit 
therefore (let it be repeated) is to resist this 
twofold work of purification and of use. To 
reserve any dross of the natural man from the 
consuming action of this holy flame is, in so 
far, to quench Him. Similarly, any resistance 
to His use of us, however slight, or from 
whatever cause, is to quench Him. The Spirit 
will not enforce obedience. His power is 
resistless, but waits the assent of our wills. 
We quench the Spirit, therefore, when we 


58 The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


oppose His will. We quench the Spirit, there- 
fore when we refuse to speak for Christ when 
consciously moved to do so by Him. It may 
seem a very small thing to us, but we are not 
qualified to judge concerning small and great 
in the estimation of God. In His work im- 
mense results often follow seemingly unim- 
portant actions. 

We quench the Spirit when we refuse His 
call to definite service. 

We quench the Spirit when we refuse His 
absolute sovereignty over our service as to 
what (1 Cor. xii. 8-11) where (Acts xiii. 2-4, 
Xvi. 6, 7) and how (Acts viii. 29) we shall 
serve Christ. So long as servants of Christ 
are influenced in the place, kind, or method of 
their service by considerations of agreeable- 
ness, worldly advantage, salary and like mo- 
tives, they may not hope to know His full- 
ness. 

We quench the Spirit when we consent to 
such arrangements in church life or organiza- 
tion as give no liberty for the ministry of the 
various gifts of the Spirit, thus imposing si- 
lence or inactivity on others. 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 59 


The effect of quenching the Spirit is precisely 
the same with grieving Him—the sphere of His 
authority is diminished; we are no longer 
‘“ filled,”’ because we have excluded Him from 
some part of our being. An illustration of 
this was given in the last chapter in the case 
of the disciples who, filled on the day of 
Pentecost, needed to be and were filled again 
on a subsequent occasion. 

The negative conditions of the filling with 
the Holy Spirit are, therefore, that we cease 
grieving Him by refusing the assent of the 
will to any unholiness; and that we cease 
quenching Him by opposing the resistance of 
the will to His sanctifying work within us, 
and His energizing work upon us. — 

It is not, let it again be insisted, that we 
are to make ourselves clean of sin, or to 
perfect ourselves in obedience. Neither of 
these acts is possible to us. In respect of both 
we are helpless. What we may do, is to put 
our wills over on the Spirit's side of these con- 
troversies. The representation is often made 
that if we can but will to be holy and obedient 
the victory is won. But, in the seventh chap- 


60 The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


ter of Romans, Paul makes the tremendous 
and crushing discovery that willing and doing 
are by no means the same things. ‘For to 
will is present with me, but how to perform 
that which is good I find not.” Rom. vii. 
18. Nor does he ever find it except in the 
mighty ‘‘law of the Spirit.” Rom. viii. 2. 

We come now to — 

2. The positive conditions of the filling with 
the Holy Spirit. 

These are reducible to three. The first, 
variously stated in Scripture, as consecration, 
presenting the body a living sacrifice, taking 
up the cross, etc., is summed up finally in one 
word ‘‘yield.” That is, yieldedness. ‘‘ Neither 
yield ye your members as instruments of un- 
righteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves 
unto God, as those that are alive from the 
dead, and your members as instruments of 
righteousness unto God.” Rom. vi. 13. 

The word here used for ‘ yield,” in its va- 
rious forms in the original Greek, stands for 
the most absolute surrender to the control of 
another. Ina slightly different form it is used 
by our Lord in Matt. xxvi. 53, ‘‘ Tuinkest thou 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 61 


that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he 
shall presently g7ve me (literally ‘ yield’) 
more than twelve legions of angels?” Are 
we at liberty to suppose that those legions 
would think of obedience to Jesus in any but 
the most absolute sense? The word is used, 
also, of the presentation of sacrifices. These, 
needless to say, were wholly given to God. A 
sacrificer under the dispensation of law never 
dreamed of reasserting authority over a crea- 
ture once brought to the priest. Indeed, his 
final act of authority was to slay his offering 
in the presence of the priest. Lev. iv. 33, 
etc. This very thought of yieldedness, first 
of all, to death is enforced again and again in 
the Epistles. Rom. vi. 3, 6, vii. 4, etc. The 
very essence of true yieldedness is to consent 
that this judicial reckoning of God that we 
were crucified with Christ shall, by the Spirit, 
(Rom. vili. 13) be made real in our experience. 
ral nM 24 242 \Gorwt,oetc, keto tt: bacre- 
peated that co-crucifixion with Christ is not a 
self-work—Christ did not crucify Himself— 
but as He ‘‘ through the Eternal Spirit offered 
Himself” (Heb. ix. 14), so we ‘‘through the 


62 The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


Spirit mortify (‘make dead’) the deeds of the 
body.” 

And this yieldedness is, be it observed, two- 
fold—‘‘ yourselves,” ‘‘ your members.” The 
first relates to the inner life—the sphere of 
soul and spirit as dominated by the flesh; the 
second to the outer life—the sphere of service. 
The first includes the yielding up to the Spirit 
of all things which defile us and therefore 
grieve Him. ‘‘Let all bitterness, and wrath, 
and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be 
put away from you, with all malice.’ This is 
a very different thing from endeavoring our- 
selves to put these away. That we could 
never do; but the Holy Spirit can, and our 
yieldedness includes assent to this purifying 
work. 

The yielding of our ‘‘members”’ as instru- 
ments is abandoning to Christ through the 
Spirit all control over our service as to place, 
time, or quality. \ts formula is ‘‘ anything, 
any time, anywhere.” In Romans xii. 1, this 
yieldedness is presented under the sacrificial 
form. Observe that the exhortation is not to 
sacrifice our bodies, but to present them (to 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 63 


our Priest) for sacrifice. The point for em- 
phasis is the utterness of the abandonment 
of our bodies to Him. Under the old dis- 
pensation, as we have seen, the offerer had 
no secret purpose of reclaiming the offering. 
In the same way, to ‘‘yield” in the sense 
required, is sincerely, and honestly, and with- 
out any known secret reservation, to give 
self and our members over to the sway of 
Christ through the Spirit. Let now all pos- 
sible emphasis be put upon the remaining 
truth about this yielding, that it 7s a definite 
act. Millions are never filled with the Holy 
Spirit, because they never definitely yield 
themselves and their members to God. Even 
among earnest Christians this lack of definite- 
ness is proved by the practice of continually 
repeated consecrations (so-called). If we 
really have presented our bodies as living sac- 
rifices, we clearly have nothing left to present. 
It is done. 


The second positive condition of the filling 
is faith. 
By faith is meant not our general trust in 


64 The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


Christ as our Saviour, but trust in Him as the 
alone bestower of the Spirit. Let go all con- | 
fusing past conditions, and remember that now 
and for Christians He, ‘‘ being by the right hand 
of God exalted, and having received of the 
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost” (or 
‘‘promised Holy Ghost”), is now in the pre- 
cise position anticipated by Him when He ut- 
tered the words of John vii. 37-39: ‘‘In the 
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus 
stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let 
him come unto me and drink... but this 
spake he of the Spirit.” 

He has taken up the office of which John 
Baptist testified: ‘‘] indeed baptize you with 
water; but one mightier than I cometh, the 
latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to un- 
loose: he shall baptize you with the Holy 
Ghost and with fire.” Luke iii. 16. 

Just as He, during His earthly ministry, 
pointed to the Father as willing to give the 
Holy Spirit to those who should ask Him, so 
now the Holy Spirit points to the ascended 
and glorified Christ as the bestower of the 
Spirit. Acts ii. 33. 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 65 


Faith, then, is called upon here for a two- 
fold exercise—to believe that the risen and 
glorified Christ is able and willing to bestow 
the fullness of the Spirit, and then to “ drink” 
(John vii. 37); that is, by a definite act of ap- 
propriation, to receive the Spirit. It is all of 
faith, One who has yielded self, and all 
known sin, and the body, unreservedly to 
the authority of Christ through the Spirit, is 
on taking ground. Heeding Christ’s invita- 
tion, ‘‘If any man thirst let him come unto 
me and drink,” he comes to Christ for this 
definite filling with the Spirit, and having 
come, he ‘“‘drinks.” It is precisely the same 
exercise of faith by which in the beginning 
of his Christian life he “received” Christ. 
John i. 12. 

Just here multitudes who really thirst, who 
have honestly yielded the whole being to 
Christ, fail. Having come so near, they do 
not “drink.” Waiting for some evidence of 
the senses they continue, perhaps for years, 
praying and longing for the fullness of the 
Spirit, but never ‘‘ receive” Him. Perhaps, at 
last, they inwardly blame God. In the Spirit 


66 The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


of the elder son in the parable, they say, 
“Thou never gavest me a kid.” The an- 
swer always is, ‘‘Son, all that I have is thine.” 


The third condition is prayer. 

And this, be it remembered, is not asking 
the Father for the Spirit. Jesus ‘‘ being by the 
right hand of God exalted,” has ‘‘ received of 
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost.’ 
Neither is it asking for the Holy Spirit in un-— 
belief of the repeated and emphatic declara- 
tions that the believer now has the Spirit, nor, 
strictly speaking, is it asking for the fullness 
of the Spirit. In the wonderful prayer re- 
corded in Acts iv. 24-30 the disciples do not — 
mention the Spirit. They pray about the fear 
they are in because of the Jewish religious | 
authorities, and of ‘‘ Herod and Pontius Pilate, 
with the Gentiles.” 

‘“‘Lord, behold their threatenings; and grant 
unto thy servants, that with all boldness they 
may speak thy word, by stretching forth thy 
hand to heal; and that signs and wonders | 
may be done in the name of thy holy child 
Jesus.” 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 67 


Think of the directness, humility, and pre- 
occupation with Christ, of that noble prayer, 
in contrast with the preoccupation with self, 
the subjectivity of so much latter-day praying 
about the Spirit. And, chiefly, note this: they 
prayed about the thing which had got wrong 
—‘behold their threatenings.” Fear was 
quenching the Spirit. So our prayers are to 
cover the ground of the most scrupulous and 
searching confession of failure, and of solicitude 
concerning the interests of Jesus, committed 
to our hands. To most, also, if not to all, 
prayer would be the most natural attitude of 
soul in definitely recetving the Spirit. How 
instinctively the expression would be: “ Lord, 
I do receive; | am now receiving from thee 
the fullness of the Spirit. I do believe thou 
hast received of the Father the promise of the 
Holy Ghost, and thou hast said, If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me and drink; and 
so I drink.” 


One word of warning. The filling with 
the Spirit is both an act and a process; both 
an event and a Jife. ' There is a beginning of 


68 The Filling with the Holy Spirit 


the state of fullness, but the continuance of. 
that state depends upon the quiet restful main- 
tenance of the conditions. The believer who 
will know the blessedness of the Spirit-filled 
life must begin by definite acts of yieldedness, 
appropriating faith, and prayer; but he must 
also maintain as the habit of life, yieldedness, 
appropriating faith and prayer. Confess in- 
stantly anything that grieves or quenches the 
Spirit—that maintains yieldedness. Be al- 
ways ‘‘drinking” the Spirit. ‘‘He that 
drinketh of the water that I shall give him 
shall never thirst.” John iv. 14. Keep the 
whole being in a receptive attitude toward the 
bestowing Christ. Do not try to think of the 
Spirit; think of Christ as the bestower of the 
Spirit. The holy and ever blessed and ador- 
able Spirit would be well content to be quite 
out of our consciousness if only that conscious- 
ness were filled with Christ. Live the life of 
prayer. Use prayer to hide everything in the 
heart of God. Bathe the whole life and serv- 
ice in prayer. Then the life that begins with 
the filling will go on in the fullness. 

A fruitful Christian service is the result of a 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit 69 


perpetual drinking at the fountain of ‘living 
waters.” ‘‘I shall be anointed with fresh 
oil” (Ps. xcii. 10) should be the desire and the 
confident faith of every yielded servant of 
God as he goes forward to each new service. 


The Filling with the Holy Spirit is 
Indispensable 


ay 


pte) t 
i rie ty y 


V 


THE FILLING WITH THE HOLY GHOST IS INDISPEN- 
SABLE 


Mucu of the speaking about the filling with 
the Holy Spirit implies that such filling is de- 
sirable, indeed, but not indispensable. It is 
treated as one of the spiritual luxuries of the 
Christian life. A minister said to the writer, 
‘“‘T am going to look into that subject one of 
these days.” He seemed utterly oblivious of 
the sorrowful fact that so long as he was not 
filled with the Spirit, no act of his service 
could be with power; and that because of that 
lack, his very sermon might work injury to 
his hearers, for nothing so surely causes atro- 
phy of conscience and heart as truth divorced 
from power. 2 Tim. iii. 5. 

1. No Christian should be willing to perform 
the slightest act in the service of Christ until 
he ts definitely filled with the Holy Spirit. 

“‘And ye are witnesses of these things. 

73 


74 The Filling is Indispensable 


And behold, I send the promise of my Father 
upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem 
until ye be endued with power from on high.” 
Luke xxiv. 48, 49. ‘‘But ye shall receive 
power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon 
you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both 
in Jerusalem and in all Judzea, and in Samaria, 
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” 
Acts i. 8. 

How wonderfully all this was fulfilled all 
readers of the second chapter of Acts know. 
After that the Holy Ghost was come upon 
them they did ‘‘receive power,” for ‘they 
were all filed with the Holy Ghost, and be- 
gan to speak with other tongues as the Spirit 
gave them utterance.” 

If, then, the very apostles of Jesus Christ, 
the chosen men who had been with Him and 
had been moulded by the tremendous impact 
of His personality; who were first-hand wit- 
nesses of His mighty miracles, and of His res- 
urrection; whose memories were stored with 
His wonderful words, and who had received 
the indwelling Spirit by His direct outbreath- 
ing—if those men must tarry until they were 


The Filling is Indispensable 75 


filled with the Spirit before beginning even the 
least service, is it not a dangerous and diso- 
bedient self-confidence for one of us to begin a 
service without the filling P 

Nor, Biblically, is the filling with the Holy 
Spirit indispensable only to ministers of the 
Word. The filling is indispensable for any 
service. 

‘‘And in those days, when the number of 
the disciples was multiplied, there arose a 
murmuring of the Grecians against the He- 
brews, because their widows were neglected 
in the daily ministration. Then the twelve 
called the multitude of the disciples unto 
them, and said: It is not reason that we 
should leave the word of God and serve 
tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out 
among you seven men of honest report, full 
of the Holy Ghost and of wisdom, whom we 
may appoint over this business.”” Acts vi. I-3. 

Just as in the Jewish dispensation, Bezaleel 
was ‘‘ filled with the Spirit of God” to ‘‘ work 
in gold, and in silver, and in brass,” because 
God would teach us that a// acceptable minis- 
try, even though mechanical, was acceptable 


76 The Filling is Indispensable 


only when rendered by a Spirit-prepared serv- 
ant; so in the church age, He would commit 
even the temporalities of the church only to 
men qualified in the same way. In other 
words, it is the method of God’s appoint- 
ment. How great would be the peace and 
prosperity of the Church of God if all minis- 
ters and office-bearers were filled with the 
Spirit! 

The writer believes that all this is most 
solemn. What is the attempted service of an 
unfilled Christian but an insolent attempt to 
override the order of GodP It is no uncharity 
to say that the inevitable result of such service 
is the attempt to substitute fleshly expedients 
for the lacking spiritual power. 

Look over the church notices of any city 
newspaper, and see how feverish and frantic 
are the attempts to substitute ‘‘attractions” 
for power. It is the sin of Nadab and Abihu; 
and, as their sin was punished by physical 
death, so in modern religious life the anti-typ- 
ical sin of the substitution of strange fire for 
Spirit fire is punished by awful spiritual dead- 
ness. 


The Filling is Indispensable 77 


2. No Christian can possibly live a right 
Christian life who ts not filled with the Holy 
Spirtt. 

All of the varied offices of the Spirit as in- 
dwelling the believer—offices bearing upon 
the believer's inner life—depend for their vig- 
orous ministry upon the filling with the Spirit. 
One may have the Spirit, and yet live a car- 
nal, joyless life. The case of the Corinthian 
church demonstrates this. 1 Cor. i. 2-0, i. 
11-13, iii. I-4, v. I, 2, vi. 6. It is when the 
Christian is filled with the Spirit that all the 
marvellous results of His indwelling are real- 
ized. 

When it is remembered that it is the Spirit 
who gives victory over sin; Rom. vili. 2; 
Gal. v. 16, 17, actualizes to the believer his 
position in Christ; Gal. iii. 26, iv. 6, pro- 
duces the fragrant fruits of ‘‘love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, and temperance;” Gal. v. 22, 23, 
imparts spiritual vigor, strengthening him 
“with might in the inner man,” Eph. iii. 
16, indites his prayers, Rom. viii. 26; Eph. 
vi. 18, comforts him, John xiv. 16, 17, 


78 The Filling is Indispensable 


guides him, sanctifies him, and makes of him 
a ‘‘true’”’ worshipper, it should be evident 
that, since every believer may be filled with the 
Holy Spirit, he is most flagrantly guilty be- 
fore God if he is not so filled. 

In other words, it is not open to the believer 
without serious guilt to be living in known 
sin, serving self, and barren of the ‘‘much 
fruit” which alone glorifies the Father. John 
xv. 8. God, in grace, has by the Spirit made 
possible to every believer a saintly life anda 
powerful service. No Christian minister 
should be content without the conversion of 
sinners and the up-building of saints, for both 
are within His power. True, there may be 
churches so deliberately set in worldliness and 
unspirituality that they reject the ministry of 
the Spirit, however tenderly and wisely offered. 
Very well, let a Spirit-filled minister turn from 
such a church, even though weeping over it 
as Christ wept over Jerusalem, and God will 
assuredly give him a hearing elsewhere. But 
let him be sure first that he has offered a 
Spirit-filled ministry. And (let it be repeated) 
no believer, whether layman or minister, 


The Filling is Indispensable 79 


should be content one hour without the in- 
effable blessedness of a Spirit-filled life. 

One final, but (in the light of much which 
is said and written) necessary word as to the 
ground of the Christian’s assurance of the fill- 
ing. Much is said, most harmfully as the 
writer believes, concerning consciousness. 
The harm done by that word lies in identify- 
ing it with feeling. It seems to be supposed 
that the Christian who definitely and continu- 
ously yields himself and his members, and 
who has really been filled with the Spirit, 
will know it by feeling holy, or powerful. 
That, in a word, he will be conscious of the 
Spirit. Nothing can be more misleading. 
Spirit-filled men are deeply conscious of 
what Matthew Henry calls ‘“‘ manifold defects 
and shortcomings in holy duties.” But they 
are conscious, too, of the nearness, the beauty, 
the abounding love, the holiness and tender- 
ness of Christ, and of the power of His blood 
to perfectly cleanse from all sin. New dis- 
coveries of sin but send them again and again 
to that cleansing stream. Their consciousness, 
then, is Christ-consciousness, not Spirit-con- 


80 The Filling is Indispensable 


sciousness. Doubtless there is a holy exercise 
of the emotions. ‘‘The fruit of the Spirit is 
. 4 4 joy.” There is a “righteousness” and 
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” But there 
are also seasons of ‘‘ weakness and fear and 
much trembling,” and these often accompany 
the ‘‘demonstration of the Spirit and of 
power.” 1 Cor. ti. 3, 4. 

Cast far away, then, as a snare to soul, the 
watchfulness of subjective frames and feelings 
and stand by faith. Just as we believe that 
Christ has given us eternal life because He 
said, ‘‘ Verily, verily, I say unto you he that 
believeth on me hath eternal life” (John vi. 47) 
so we believe that He who bids the thirsty to 
“come unto Him and drink,” does give the 
rivers of blessing and power to those who 
drink. And to all who thus stand by faith He, 
in due season, grants to see the rivers, and to 
know the blessed cleansing and refreshing of 
the up-springing fountain. 


THE END 


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